Jerry’s Market still fills the grocery gap left by Safeway leaving downtown Greeley

On the busy corner of 14th Avenue and 5th Street, Jerry's Market remains the last hold-out of the city's longtime groceries.

Now a little more than two years after the downtown Safeway closed, Jerry's Market stands easily as the city's longest remaining market and the only full-fledged market serving the downtown area.

"It always has been tough since the day we started, you have competition and people shop your competition, and there's price wars," said owner Steve Mize. "It's just very competitive."

Greeley's downtown Safeway was the oldest store in Greeley, opening in 1957. It pre-dated Jerry's Market, 513 14th Ave., which came to Greeley in 1964, and Toddy's, which operated in Greeley for roughly 27 years before closing in 2004. Along the way, a host of grocery store chains have sprouted locations in west Greeley.

“Interestingly enough, from what I’ve seen lately between Jerry’s and Farmer’s Pantry … we’re still doing a pretty good job of serving the neighborhood needs.

— Pam Bricker, director of Downtown Development Authority

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When the downtown Safeway closed in July 2014, Jerry's Market was in its 50th year. At the time, many downtown residents wondered where they'd shop. Officials had hoped to convince another grocery downtown to fill the hole, but Safeway would not sell the property to another grocery. The city instead opted later to build its new fire station there.

While there have been rumblings about getting a full-service grocery back into downtown, it likely won't happen. City officials put out a lot of feelers. Crickets.

Large grocery stores like population centers, said Pam Bricker, director for the Downtown Development Authority.

"We don't have the numbers right now that attract them," Bricker said. "As you've probably noticed the big guys are just getting bigger. It is definitely a need, but interestingly enough, from what I've seen lately between Jerry's and Farmer's Pantry … we're still doing a pretty good job of serving the neighborhood needs."

Farmer's Pantry, 931 16th St., opened in 2015, on the south end of the downtown district, mostly serving the student population. The store boasts farm-fresh produce.

Jerry's, which had long remained busy serving a chiefly Latino population in the north end of Greeley, helped fill the gap in offerings.

Safeway's demise was an immediate shot in the arm.

"I don't think we really needed it. It was just nice to have a bit of an increase," Mize said. "It's always nice to make more."

Downtown residents can find their staples at Jerry's, including meats, produce, bread and milk, along with everything in between, from cookies to baby wipes and frozen goods, and they even can rent a carpet cleaner or wire money via Western Union.

The store may soon begin offering more as its distributor was recently acquired by a larger company, Mize said.

The boost in business has allowed Mize to increase workers' hours and invest more into the store.

He said he always works to meet customer demand for certain products, as well.

"The only perpetual in this business is it is continuously changing, and I think it always will," Mize said. "But that's what has kept it so intriguing."